Okay, disgusting as it may be, I'm just wondering if anyone besides me has been kooky enough to cough it up and hawk it into a petri dish. After watching molds of all sizes, shapes & colors having a field day in my petri dish after an hour of passive collection (remove top, let sit) I got suddenly inspired to take my inexpensive home testing a step further. Long ago I read something about brown specks in phlegm, of which I'd seen plenty, and since I haven't managed to get any "real" tests done yet, I thought I'd give it a fling.
Not quite 48 hrs now,and the results are ... interesting? intriguing? SCARY???! Basically, the "glue" seems to be disappearing as tiny balls isolate and begin to turn fuzzy.
Questions: Are each of these tiny balls to be considered colonies? And what should I do now to get them analyzed?
Any ideas? Btw, I took my passive air samples to a local lab and learned that in addition to aspergillus, penicillium, and cladosporium (I knew that those were in my house of mold, along with chaetomium) I also have fusarium. Did not have the species identified, as the lab strongly recommended that I hire them to do "real" air samples to get an accurate spore count.
Also btw, I have no mold actively growing in my apt (to my knowledge) - these are just spores that apparently followed us from Santa Fe. Can this nonsense really go on indefinitely?
If the conditions are not conducive to new growth, will these little monsters continue to proliferate? Is there any good reason to pay this lab $300 for more thorough air sampling, or do I already have enough information to justify jumping off a cliff? Oops, there aren't too many of those around here...
-- Flinging Phlegm and Fed up in Florida_________________May the Truth prevail!

Sorry to hear about the nasal congestion. I have felt your pain! For two years I lived in home where a hidden roof leak filled master bedroom with aspergillous and penecillium spores. At first just sleep problems, then allergic rhinitis and eventually severe nasal congestion (always worst at night when sleeping in room), severe sleep disturbances, seizures, depression, itching, etc.

Clever idea of yours to put some congestion on a test plate.

Have you tried getting away from contaminated residence to an affordable temporary clean residence (this can be VERY hard to find in some locations) and using ONLY new items (clothing and everything else). I found out the hard way (through 3 cross contaminations) that when I did this, the nasal congestion went away & I immediately felt better. Hopefully you have not yet been poisoned to point where you are sick even in a clean environment.

I read somewhere on web last year that the mold spores can live on contaminated belongings from 8-12 years (depeding on the type) in a "inactive" state. Whenever the conditions are right (i.e., moisture or high humidity and a "food source") the mold can start growing & colonizing all over.

If possible, get away from all belongings on a trial basis. If health improves you know what problem is. See about getting temporary clean place and cleaning items (lots of research & some good answers in this discussion board required to learn how to do this right). Then I'd bring cleaned items in one at a time.

Wishing you best of luck (& minimum future pain) on this challenging adventure.

Thanks for your response. Your rhinitis, depression, sleep problems, etc. sounds like what I went through bigtime when I was living in the House of Mold. Sinuses, then larynx, then chest. Couldn't stop coughing, and had no voice for two months. Doctors did laryngoscopies and said it was from acid reflux! I've been out for almost 10 months now and that part has cleared up, but I still have deep lung congestion, and it's what I cough up that has the brown specks in it. Gross, huh? I just had my first doctor's appointment since March (very disappointing), so I thought maybe if I cultured this sputum I could get some direction for the next step.
As far as getting out of the apartment for a test run, I'm working on that. There doesn't seem to be any mold actively growing here, so I'm guessing the intermittent triggers are from spores that I missed when cleaning everything before I moved here. Not sure, but that's what seems to make the most sense. I wish I knew what causes them to become airborne and start releasing toxins... more research. I still forget such a large percentage of what I read, and I have no printer at the moment, so I often have to search, research, and re-research! Frustrating. Anyway, thanks so much for your input - every little bit helps!_________________May the Truth prevail!

Dana,
Just coughed up a lovely chunk of white phlem on my home test kit. Got the flu (wow! not mold related!) and started coughing up this stuff I have NEVER seen before. Will let you know how it goes. Gross.
T

Just introduce myself: I am a man (says my wife), I am 50 years old (hmm, that looks bad isn't it?) and I am a terrible bad programmer (I say myself).
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